Plain Forgiven: September 2007

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XXIII)

The biggest surprise in the National Museum of the American Indian was a section on the impact of the Gospel on the native Americans. It was not easy reading for me as a Christian, however, because in some areas, the native Americans were forcibly made to drop their traditional and tribal practices and accept the church and convert to Christianity. Our docent is Catholic.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XXII)

Creation Story, 2001
Harry Fonseca
(Maidu, Hawaiian, Portuguese)
Sacramento, California)

In the beginning appeared
Helin Maideh and Turtle
on a raft;
And it was black,
it was dark

For quite some time
They floated around
Then Turtle asked Helin Maideh
For a place to rest.

So Helin Maideh called ko-do-yam-peh
And down came
Ko-do-yam-peh
On a feathered rope,
In the form of the sun;
He landed n the raft

And Ko-do-yam-peh told Turtle,
"If you want to rest,
You have to work for it."
So he took Turtle,
Put Turtle
In an endless sea.

Turtle dove down
Was gone for four days,
four years,
four hundred years -
Time isn't that important.

Anyway, Turtle returned
More dead than alive.
So, Ko-do-yam-peh took mud
From under Turtle's paw, he took mud,
Rolled it into a little ball
And placed it on the water.

It grew to become the world,
Once the world was created,
Ko-do-yam-peh created
the animals and the plants,
The streams and rivers
And the mountain ranges.

And then he created the first two people.
And, he gave them the gifts of fire,
The first bath,
The Kum,
And the changing seasons

At first there was order,
But after some time,
Chaos returned to the people.

Hummingbird was told
"Fly to the north
and bring back
Hai-kut-wo-tu-peh and Wo-non-meh."

Hummingbird returned
Telling how to prepare
For the visit
Of these two old men.

"Gather silently
In the Kum
With no light
That they should not be seen."

The two old men
Descended,
Through the smoke hole
On the Kum.
They talked to us.

Then two young boys
Threw pitch on the fire
And the fire flared
Exposing their bodies.

Wo-non-meh's flesh was
All edible animals,
And Hai-kut-wo-tu-peh's
All edible plants.

When the fire burned low,
The teaching began:
"Limit chaos and
Cultivate order:
By singing, dancing, and
Talking to each other.

Realise life is short,
Respect your elders,
And recognise that death,
is part of living."

When the two old men left,
The two young boys
Fell over dead.
And a rain of fire,
Destroyed almost all.

Except a few
Who followed
The old men's teachings
And life was good.

Over time, chaos returned
Returns.
And the lessons proved true,
Are true.

Story told by Henry Azbill, 2002
and put to verse by Judy Allison.

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XXI)

The National Museum of American Indian's Identity by Design exhibition also featured leggings and moccasins. Modesty is still an important virtue among native American women.

Cheyenne leggings and moccasins, ca.1890
Probably Montana or Oklahoma

Shoshone leggings and moccasins, ca.1910
Idaho

Nez Perce moccasins, ca.1900
Idaho

Blackfoot moccasins, ca.1910
Canada

Assiniboine leggings and moccasins, ca.1890
Probably Montana

More dresses below (you may catch a familiar symbol that's very close to my heart)

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XX)

The National Museum of American Indian had this changing exhibition called Identity by Design - tradition, change and celebration in native women's dresses. I love colour, patterns and materials so this exhibition was a perfect fit for me.

Such exhibitions reaffirm my wonder in the creative ability of mankind, and my belief in the existence of God who created us in such a wonderful and beautiful manner, with tenderness and love.

These carriers (above) are used by native American women to carry their kids when they are doing their house chores or working at home. Our docent told us that these carriers were still being used even today in the various tribes. He also explained that because the carriers had a flat back, those who were carried in them grew up with their backs of their heads being also flat. He said he was one of them. In Singapore, these carriers would be equivalent to the sarong beds suspended in air that we slept in while we were young. These exquisite carriers are all hand-made.

The dresses below are examples of the traditional dresses worn by native Americans. Our docent (I forgot his name) said that many of the most beautiful dresses are not on display because when native American women die, they are buried in their most beautiful traditional dresses.

The dress above is worth a mention because it's actually a contemporary dress made by Dora Old Elk from the Assiniboine tribe in Montana, who happens to be a good friend of the docent. I like the colours.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Sentosa outing with my nephew Justin

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XIX)

National Museum of the American Indian: This relatively small museum was a delight for the eyes right from the outset.

The museum building itself - draped in Kasota stone - is a marvellous piece of work, designed by Douglas Cardinal (Blackfoot) and a team of Native architects and consultants—including Johnpaul Jones (Cherokee/Choctaw) and artist/designer Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi).

Its beautiful exterior led me to touch it, feel it and run my hands along the surface. You know when you're standing somewhere and you feel like there's no way you could ever exchange that moment for any moment else? I felt like that. The design was exactly right for a Native American museum. The interior is equally impressive.

I actually went to the museum twice because I didn't have enough time the first time around to even enter the museum; the first time, SL and I had lunch at the cafe and after that, I had time only to go to the gift shop.

I highly recommend the museum cafe because it features some menu double-takers like buffalo chilli and eel with walnut salad. I wished I had a bigger stomach because I would have tried everything there. Sigh...

The museum's permanent and changing exhibitions are curated by Native Americans, which is commendable because this ensures that their stories and their lives are told by their people. The museum docents are also Native Americans.

The docent who led the free guided tour that I was on was from the Lakota tribe, so his tribe is mainly from North and South Dakota. He left a deep impression on me because of the way he spoke about his people: his pride was evident.

He was disgusted by the Disney movie Pocahontas because he said it gave a false image of his people - for example, in the movie Pocahontas was scantily clad; the Native American woman prides herself on modesty and thus is well covered from head to toe. He has a master's in anthropology and is a teacher.

When I heard him talking about his people, I just had this thought: Am I just as proud and passionate about the fact that I'm a Singaporean, and do I know a lot about my heritage and my people's history and my country? Well, for me, I'm proud and passionate about being a Singaporean but I have to admit that I'm not very clued in to the rest.

When I was there, the museum had this changing exhibition called Identity by Design - tradition, change and celebration in native women's dresses. I'm fascinated by patterns and colours so this exhibition was an eye-opener for me. I'll post about this in my next entry.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Washington D.C. through my eyes (XVIII)

Apart from the Monet paintings, the National Gallery of Art also had these marvellous ones on display that caught my eye - some because they're so intimate, some because they're so different and yet some because they reveal a very different side of some big names in art.